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Having sufficient underinsured (UIM) and uninsured (UM) car accident insurance coverage is crucial. This kind of coverage protects you and your family when other drivers on the road don’t have enough insurance coverage or no insurance coverage at all. The unfortunate reality is that many Pennsylvania drivers don’t even know what this kind of coverage is. The best way to explain this kind of coverage is through an example.
HOW UIM COVERAGE IN PENNSYLVANIA WORKS
Let’s say you get into a car accident and suffer serious injuries. The accident was another driver’s fault. As a result of the injuries, you have surgery and miss significant time from work. Surgery isn’t successful and the injury is permanent. Now, your livelihood and the financial security of your family is at risk.
The other driver has a minimum policy of $15,000 of bodily injury coverage. In Pennsylvania, this is the minimum required. You can make a claim against the other driver for the $15,000 of bodily injury coverage. The other driver has no real assets. Most folks who have a minimum $15,000 policy often don’t have significant assets. So, your attorney files a claim against the other driver and his or her car insurance company offers to pay the $15,000 policy limit.
Now comes time to make a UIM claim. So long as your car insurance carrier is notified of the settlement with the negligent driver, and so long as you’ve lived up to any other terms of your car insurance policy/contract, you could then make a UIM claim. Again, this is against your own car insurance company. That’s the nature of a UIM or UM claim. It’s a contract claim against your car insurance company.
Using our example above, let’s say you have $100,000/$300,000 of UIM and UM coverage. This will provide up to $100,000 per person, up to a maximum of $300,000 per accident. This means that members of your household, such as your spouse and child, may also make a UIM claim for the same accident.
UIM and UM coverage are crucial. This kind of coverage protects you from other drivers who are financially irresponsible. Bodily injury protects you from your own negligence.
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Our attorneys serve car and truck accident victims in the following areas: Allegheny County, PA; Berks County, PA; Bucks County, PA; Chester County, PA; Delaware County, PA; Lehigh County, PA; Montgomery County, PA; Northampton County, PA: Philadelphia County, PA; Atlantic County, NJ; Burlington County, NJ; Camden County, NJ; Cumberland County, NJ; Gloucester County, NJ; Salem County, NJ; New Castle County, DE; Kent County, DE; Atlantic City, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Newark, NJ; Doylestown, PA; Media, PA; West Chester, PA; Norristown, PA; Camden, NJ; Wilmington, DE; Newark, DE; Georgetown, DE; and New Castle, DE. Our lawyers can obtain special admission in other states such as New York, on a case by case basis.
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